Top 10 Crystals for Winter

Winter is the time for being introspective and meditative. Winter is our time to rest and replenish. Because winter is a time of less light and colder conditions, it can also be a difficult time for many people. Crystals can play a part in brightening our nights, improving our outlook and encouraging us to look within, peacefully. Here are my top 10 choices for Winter.

Angelite:
Properties: This stone is excellent at balancing, polarizing and aligning the physical body with the Aura or ethereal network. It is very calming and its shade of blue refreshes the eyes and spirit. This crystal helps us to be in touch with angels and animal guides, as well as assisting in distant communication with other humans. Most effective on the Throat Chakra, Angelite helps in self expression, communication and allows us to speak our mind, helping us to become more assertive. Its soothing effects on the Throat Chakra works
beautifully in calming and soothing anxiety or overactive children. Use this stone to call your Angels for guidance and support. Angelite is often used for psychic connection to oneness with the Universe, the angelic realm and for spiritual guidance. Angelite is utilized for heightened sensory awareness, which also makes it great for Astral travel. Angelite helps us to see paths to surmount challenges. It dispels anger, renews connections with Universal knowledge, and reduces the "upstream struggle" during new endeavors.

Azurite:
Properties: Referred to as the jewel of wisdom or Stone of Heaven. Azurite symbolizes insight and discovery. It is said to increase psychic abilities. Azurite activates the Brow and Throat Chakra for more assertive communication and alertness. It allows for quite, deep access to the subconscious and as a seeing stone offers access to other times, places and lives. Therefore, it is a great stone to assist in astral travel. This great balancer helps those who talk too much and allows for those who to be expressive when they have a tendency t hold back. This opens our psychic intuition and gets us aquainted with our innerselves. It is a stone that stimulates creativity, giving access to a fountain of ideas, images and awareness of things around us. This is a wonderful stone for decisiveness and decision making.

Black Onyx:
Properties: Balances and grounds. Reduces sex drive. Promotes fidelity. Absorbs and flattens emotional intensity. Androgynous. Excellent for centering/aligning total person with higher powers. Banish grief, enhance self control, wise decision-making, encourages happiness and good fortune. Can be used to provide a "peek" into the future, helps one to follow the path alone, promotes personal
strength, understand the reality of the moment, become the master of one's own future. Helps with disorders of soft tissue, bone marrow and the feet. Black: Root Chakra. Grounding. Green: Heart Chakra. Yellow: 3rd Seriousness, logic. Blue: 5th Chakra. Found in Italy, US, and in Mexico. The shapes or patterns that Onyx holds inside it have led some to suggest that Onyx has a picture in it that
tells a story or carries a lesson. An Onyx will retain memory of the physical occurrences surrounding a person. A strong stone to use in psychometry because it tells the story of the wearer. A strength-giving stone. A good stone for athletes or people under extreme mental and emotional stress. It brings balance to mind or body as well as strength of mind. Good stone for those who are flighty by nature. A strengthening stone that can help you approach a lesson or task with greater self-confidence. Said to be good for the teeth and bones. It is highly recommended that Onyx be used in conjunction with Pearl and Diamond.

Blue Chalcedony:
Properties: A type of Quartz that heads a family which includes Agate, Carnelian, Jasper, Tiger's Eye, and Onyx. Found in the US, Sri Lanka, USSR, Mexico and Brazil. Chelcedony helps ease self-doubts, makes one more reflective. It is used to eases bad dreams and problems related to the eye, gall bladder, bones, spleen, blood, and circulatory organs. Cleansing in nature, this stone will promote healing. It needn't be cleaned afterward since it has such strong cleansing qualities of its own. Chelcedony fosters the maternal instinct and is said to assist lactation. Blue is used to open the throat Chakra and helps with communication and self expression.

Citrine:
Properties: This stone is very versatile and is used for mental and emotional clarity, problem solving, memory issues, will power, optimism, confidence and self-discipline. It reduces anxiety, fear and depression. Citrine is one of two crystals which never have to be cleansed of negative energy. An energizing and highly beneficial crystal, citrine absorbs, transmutes, grounds and dissolves
negative energy, which makes it a very protective stone. Citrine crystals are invigorating and positive. They can surround and fill anyone with its brilliant color, energizing every aspect of life. Increases motivation and Persons involved with education or business will especially benefit. Can guide you to harness and utilize your creative energy. Helps us analyze events and steer them in a positive direction. Develops inner calm and security, and makes us less sensitive and more open to constructive criticism. Can dispel negative feelings and help us to accept the flow of events.

Petalite:
Properties: Petalite, also known as Castorite, is highly spiritual. It has been called the "stone of the Angels" (not to be confused with Angelite) and will help one connect with one's guides and enhances your angelic connection. It is also said to dissolve negativity and black magic spells. Petalite has been used on vision quests for strength, protection, and peace. It will balance one's yin/yang qualities as well as one's mind, body, and spirit. It also enhances one's ability to feel energy in stones. Known as an aura calmer, this stone works on the Throat, Third Eye and Crown Chakra in particular. This environmental stone enhances it surroundings. It is a strong generator of positive, higher energy.

Quartz: "Rock Crystal"
Properties:Quartz is the Master Healer and the "stone of power"! This crystal has the appearance of frozen water and clear quartz appears to look like ice! Probably the most versatile multipurpose healing stone. Easy to cleanse, store information/energy in, program or amplify energy and is used as a healing instrument. The natural tendency for quartz is for harmony. Quartz can both draw
and send energy therefore it is effective for sending/receiving guidance. Quartz is used for transformation in healing and in all levels of change (mentally/emotionally, physically and spiritually). Quartz stimulates the natural crystal in body tissues and fluids to resonate at the highest healing frequency. Quartz works with All Chakra and master gland for balancing, cleansing and healing. It is the perfect stone for complete Aura balancing.

Selenite:
Properties: This crystal is Gypsum. This white/clear striated crystal can look like snowy mountains or tumbled snowballs! Selenite is wonderful for mental focus, growth, luck, immunity, kundalini. These are centuries-old recordkeepers of events and information. Smoothes emotions. Holding this crystal can help with visualizing and bringing white light/energy (higher ideas/consciousness) from a
transpersonal point above your head down through body, out through feet into the earth/physical plane. May help physical and emotional letting go. This crystal is great for emotional and athletic flexibility. It helps to send healing to the earth expands your sensitivity and field of awareness.

Snowflake Obsidian:
Properties: This obsidian stone, which has inclusions of phynocryst, gives it the snowflake pattern on it's surface, and allows us to recognize unnecessary patterns in our lives. Promotes self-esteem and confidence. Clairaudience and owning our lower aspects for growth; Healthy balance. Allows us to be more sensitive and aware of the beauty and love that is around us. This is a strong
grounding stone and is known as "the protector". It is said to "mirror one's soul. This stone brings about objectivity, dis-attachment and is grounding. It reduces fantasy and escapism. Absorbs and dissolves anger, criticism, fear, and therefore is protective. This unusual black stone absorbs darkness and converts it to white light energy, which is used at the Root Chakra, encouraging ones survival instincts and is grounding. This stone is used for transformation.

Snow River Quartz:
Properties: This amazing quartz crystal is used for seeing into the future and discovering our congenital past. These clear quartz balls are amazing in their clarity on the inside and covered with a beautiful white frost on the outside. The ends are sliced off so that you can see into it's deep translucent center. These "picture window" crystals are originally from the riverbeds of Brazil. The crystals are washed down out of the mountains and tumbled over and over byviolent surging waters. This natural process gives the crystals their frosted look. They are the "gazing" stone, also called "seer quartz". These stone evoke clarity, clear thinking and renowned insight.

Andrew Pacholyk, MS. L.Ac
http://www.peacefulmind.com/stones.htm